How much does a headless WordPress cost in 2026 for an SMB site of 30 to 100 pages? Between €2,250 and €6,500 depending on scope, plus €200 to €600 in annual operating cost. I've costed about twenty projects in this range over the past 18 months. Here's the real breakdown, line by line, without the usual sales layer.
A headless WordPress project always breaks down into 6 line items:
The item that varies the most is front-end development. That's what distinguishes the 3 brackets below.
Scope: simple existing site (10 to 25 pages, blog included), design kept or barely modified, standard features.
| Item | Person-days | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Audit and scoping | 0.5 d | €250 |
| WordPress configuration | 1 d | €500 |
| Next.js front-end development | 2.5 d | €1,250 |
| Content migration and redirects | 0.5 d | €250 |
| Testing and go-live | — | included |
| Total HT | 4.5 d | €2,250 |
Delivery time: 3 to 4 weeks.
Typical case: association, small local business, independent professional. Existing WordPress site with a decent theme, we switch the rendering to headless to gain performance and security, without a graphic redesign.
Scope: 30 to 80 page SMB site, active blog, design reworked on 3 to 5 templates, polished animations, advanced contact form.
| Item | Person-days | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Audit and scoping | 1 d | €500 |
| WordPress configuration (custom post types, ACF) | 1.5 d | €750 |
| Next.js front-end development (5 templates) | 4 d | €2,000 |
| Content migration, schema, redirects | 1 d | €500 |
| Testing and DNS switch | 0.5 d | €250 |
| Total HT | 8 d | €4,000 |
Delivery time: 5 to 7 weeks.
Typical case: B2B SMB with 50 to 80 product/service pages, active editorial blog, need for good performance for SEO. The design is reworked on key pages (home, listing, detail).
Scope: site > 100 pages, several custom content types, multilingual, CRM/marketing integrations, 100% custom design.
| Item | Person-days | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Audit, scoping, UX recommendations | 2 d | €1,000 |
| Advanced WordPress configuration (CPTs, ACF, multilingual) | 3 d | €1,500 |
| Next.js front-end development (8+ templates, animations) | 7 d | €3,500 |
| Content migration, schema, redirects, hreflang | 1.5 d | €750 |
| Third-party integrations (CRM, analytics, AB testing) | 1 d | €500 |
| Testing, switch, 30-day monitoring | 0.5 d | €250 |
| Total HT | 15 d | €6,500 |
Delivery time: 8 to 12 weeks.
Typical case: editorial media, B2B site with strong lead generation, multilingual content platform. Above €6,500, we enter custom projects (web app, multi-sites, complex business features) costed case by case.
This is the blind spot of most quotes. Once the site is delivered, here's what it really costs each year:
| Item | Typical annual cost |
|---|---|
| Managed WordPress hosting (Kinsta starter, WP Engine, headless o2switch) | €100 to €300 |
| Front-end hosting (Vercel Pro or Cloudflare Pages) | €0 to €240 |
| Domain name | €10 to €15 |
| Paid WordPress plugins (Yoast Premium, ACF Pro, Polylang) | €100 to €200 |
| Maintenance (WP updates, plugins, Next.js dependencies) | €300 to €600 |
| Annual total | €510 to €1,355 |
Over 3 years, the full TCO of a standard project comes out at around €5,500 to €8,000 (build + operations), compared to a classic optimized WordPress at €4,500 to €6,500 over the same period. The gap is quickly repaid if the site gains in SEO and conversions.
If the provider is a Disabled Independent Worker (TIH in French), the client company can deduct 50% of the HT amount of the service from its annual AGEFIPH contribution, up to 75% of that contribution.
Concrete example on the Standard bracket (€4,000 HT):
This is a financial argument, not a quality argument. The quality of the deliverable is independent of the TIH status. For a decision-maker, however, it's a line item to include in the arbitrage calculation.
Concrete cases where I advise staying on optimized classic WordPress:
Conversely, if your site generates more than €1,000 in direct revenue per month (lead generation, e-commerce, measured conversions), a headless migration typically pays for itself in 6 to 12 months.
To anchor the figures:
| Solution | Build (entry-level) | Annual operation |
|---|---|---|
| Classic WordPress theme | €1,500 to €3,000 | €200 to €500 |
| Headless WordPress | €2,250 to €6,500 | €500 to €1,355 |
| Webflow Pro | €3,000 to €8,000 | €600 to €1,800 (mandatory subscription) |
| Custom web app | €10,000 and up | €1,000 and up |
Headless WordPress sits between the classic WordPress theme and the custom web app. It's the right compromise for an SMB site that wants to modernize its front without rebuilding everything.
A headless WordPress in 2026 costs between €2,250 and €6,500 at delivery, plus €500 to €1,355 per year in operation. The AGEFIPH deduction can halve this cost for subject companies. To see the detailed pricing breakdown by offer, visit the Headless WordPress page.